I'm just having TOO much fun with these paintings! Dang! And I think I'm going to bring them all to Stillwater on Sunday to hang them at the Coffee Paw Cafe, where I've been invited to have a show...
It feels like everything is starting to loosen up a bit too, and I'm so happy to be going somewhere to hang some art. I hope you have something to look forward to too!
This one is painted on a white canvas, which is experimental for me. I am so used to having the darks already there, and working this way just feels so wimpy at first. I ended up using magenta and going back over everything so there'd be something there, and I like that better. Not entirely sure if that was the right way to go with the background, but I really like it! It's so goldeny and warm behind the cool green of the chair and the lavender and purples of Bunny...
And yes, she does this all the time. She's a little table climber, and if you don't watch your plate, she has a prehensile tongue...
But it's just so cute to have that little face pop up at the table!
Wow- we just got back from a family walk and Max was skipping down the sidewalk with Bunny, singing "it feels like spring!"
I hope if you are in Minnesota that you were able to get out and enjoy this dripping wet squidgy weather!
And here is my favorite pug painting yet! I think I really got the eyes and nose this time!
What a lovely, lazy Sunday I've had! These days its rare to have the house to myself for an hour, let alone all day. My boys left at 6:15am for a full out-door boy scout camp in Wisconsin, where Max got to throw axes and use a crosscut saw and a branding iron, among other things, while I did laundry and watched Schitt's Creek and Bridgerton and painted on a commission or two!
This is one I'm working on-
There's that face again! We all seem to agree that this is the cutest creature in our entire house. And she really doesn't use that against us either... so kind.
I used to be a cat person exclusively. And then I got to know dogs better, and I was a big dog appreciator and didn't think much of little dogs... I wanted my dogs to be solid and loyal and tall enough to rest their head on the arm of the sofa while standing.
And now. I'm in love with a dog who has the face of a cicada.
She's so silly!
I really loved painting in the floor on this one- we live in an over-100 year old house and have the original floors which need to be redone badly but they still look great in a painting, and they are close in color to Bunny's fur too. Which means I have to pay more attention to value and light, as well as checking on those forms to make sure they read "PUG"! And she was looking up at Max as we were eating dinner, hoping for something to drop!
And I have to admit, I am enjoying this more than I'd thought I would, though none of these pug paintings have sold yet, so I'll just keep painting them. And if you are reading this, and there's one that has caught your eye, then just send me a note telling me you are one of my blog subscribers and you'd like that painting and you can have it for $45 instead of $75~ at least, you can if you're one of the first to ask!
Wahoo!
Can you believe there are so many ways to see a pug?! Wow! And for such a little head, there are an awful lot of expressions!
I've had a really busy day communicating with people who are sending me photos for this years "30 Cats & Pals in 30 Days" Daily Painting Project! I'm so excited! I've got a pile already, and pretty much all the cats submitted so far are absolutely paint-worthy! So if you'd like to participate, all you have to do is send me a photo of your cat or bunny or ferret or tortoise... and I'll see if I want to paint them~
Dog are always in July, but I am delighted to paint commissions at any time!
Shhhh- the pug is asleep!
I've been writing out my morning pages lately, which if you've never read through or "done" the Artists' Way by Julia Cameron, is actually a great habit to get into. It has been helpful to empty my night brain out before opening up any technology... because it feels like it is a way into my true self. You know, those dreams and thoughts right upon waking. And I've actually also been sleeping better.
But that could be because Biden is our president...
And it isn't quite as terribly cold up here, though my heart is breaking for Texas and the other places covered in snow...
So this concerned pug face is for anyone who is feeling concerned too...
I like her eyes in this one!
Today's pug has a bit of a chewy thing going on... she's got that good and wedged into her little face, she doesn't mind if you tug on it a bit, because she knows you'll let her have it back. Because you will, won't you?
I think I've painted a few other dogs with tongues in my career, and they are always a bit of a study in abstraction. Since its a muscle (I think) the tongue is a very strange shape and I just have to focus on the value and the shiny bits~
And it makes me laugh~
Happy Monday!
And now its Valentine's Day- and it makes me think of all those past Valentine's Days, in grade school with your decorated box for classmates to drop their cards into, and later you'd look through them and try to find some deeper meaning in the ones from the boys you liked... as if a monkey or baseball player held the importance of love.
And then there's this face...
Yes, I'm a day late posting this but it was a busy day yesterday! You would be so impressed with everything I managed to accomplish including putting a beautiful cover on our comforter, which made bedtime even more enjoyable...
And this is one of a series of pug paintings I'm attempting. I'm sticking with one subject for a while here, and it's pug. This one is on a magenta ground~ and I painted it while watching "Inspector Gadget" with Matthew Broderick, which made me really want to watch "Ferris Beuller's Day Off"...
I'm painting experimental pug paintings for the next few days or a week or so. I want to explore color and drawing, and it helps to have one subject so I'm going with one that makes me laugh every day. Our pug, Bunny-
She can be an absolute pain in the neck but you can't help but laugh when she's around! So in this one, I'm attempting to get that serious pug look, with the deep jowls drooping, and a sense of the pug of her lips..
Not sure what she's looking at exactly. Not sure that matters- I'm playing with background light in this one~
Ha ha! Isn't that funny?! Oh I know- it's terrible. But it was the best I could do just now...
And this is what happened to the orange from yesterday! And I'll auction this one too- it was a much tougher painting than the first one. So tricky seeing the peel, especially the inside part.
Remember to eat your fruits!
I'm working on planning out some exercises for my Advanced Paint Love students who will be starting this Saturday morning with me, and I thought I'd better work on my own exercises! Which is a great case in point- if you want to get better at something, you have to practice. And you don't expect all your practice work to be keepers either. BUT it is always good to do the practice. And keep in mind what it is you are PRACTICING. Which is why I'm auctioning this one...
In this case, I wanted to practice seeing my values, where the darks and lights lie. Or is it lay? Probably lay... so I painted this clementine. Usually when I'm painting these, I'm practicing One-Stroke-Per-Color, which is a great way to check your values and color anyway, and I've painted so many apples and oranges, I'm afraid I go into auto-pilot unless I jerk my mind into focus and really pay attention. Isn't that an interesting phrase? PAY ATTENTION. Because if you don't, you'll end up paying something else, whether it is time or energy or emotion!
Whoa am I philosophical or WHAT?!
Tomorrow I'll post the After painting...
And I don't believe I've ever posted this one before either. Isn't that funny? I think the problem is that sometimes I paint a series so quick that I lose track of which ones have been posted and then move on to other things and assume they are all out there. I am planning on updating and changing my website and so I'm going back through my gallery on Dailypaintworks to see what is on there and how far back it goes- there's a lot there, and I like using that site as my archives, if you will... you can search for SOLD work and for AVAILABLE work, and that helps me see what I have and where its is. Pretty convenient! But this one isn't on there yet. It's one of my favorites~ I love that face! It reminds me of Pooh Bear...
It's been a beautiful cold day. Our tortoise spent the day wandering around the kitchen, chasing sunbeams until he ended up in the bathroom near our electric wall heater. We all had a lovely creative home day, and now Max is paper mâché-ing a Halo Mask in the living room...
This is a painting from my series of deer that I've been painting over the past few years, and I was just looking for it to submit to an exhibition and I realized I've not ever posted it here...
I love the light in it, and the light today was so similar.
I had a hankering to paint Artist's Point again, and here it is~ this is a small piece, 6x12, and I was playing a bit more with the color of the water...
It's a lovely piece for a lovely tall spot in your home!
A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to have a fantastic couple contact me to come to my studio to see some of my otter paintings, and maybe some landscapes. I was super excited about that, and had to go to our basement to pack the otters I had stored there so I could bring them to the studio. Since June 2020, my favorite work has been stored in our basement after the Ivy Building caught fire from the Hexagon Bar which was burnt down after George Floyd's murder and the uprising. It was a bit safer... but now, work is continuing on the building and our end of it is just fine, so I've been bringing work back over there. I was happy to be able to pull out all my favorites and some new otters and set them all up. It felt so great!
And when they chose three paintings, that felt even greater!
I held onto this one, because I wasn't happy with how monochrome it looked, and I also really wanted to varnish it. It is a 36x24 acrylic on wood painting, and I'd never varnished it and it needed that. I'll be going back in and doing a few others. I also lighted some bits up and added more browns into the reflection and in the otter itself~
MUCH better!
Today is our anniversary! We married at the Art Shanties Project on Medicine Lake in 2008, on top of the Medicine Lake Research Shanty, which was a two-story shanty with a balcony so we could be up there with Bo, our officiator... it was honestly one of the best days of my life! I'll have to see if I can find photos somewhere- it was just a perfect day, with everyone we loved at the lake and taiko drumming groundhogs and penguins and just FUN!
So here is another commission I'm working on! I think it's nearly complete, but now I'm worried about the fluff on the left side (as you look at her) of her ear- this is 20x16, and will be sent to Texas when my client agrees that it is finished. I used two photos to create the piece, and I'm particularly pleased with the leather couch and the stained glass rose window, and the outside being softer, and the fluffy fur... okay, I'm pretty happy with all of it!
Though I am also interested in hearing what you think!
I had to paint another otter- those greens tickle me! And the little splashes as well-
I'm also working to update my website, cuz it feels kinda clunky to me... we'll see what happens there. What would help me is if you have purchased my work, and you like it, could you send me a little note telling me what you like about it and why? And if you have time to take a photo of that painting where ever it lives in your house, and if you don't mind my including this in my website, I'd very much appreciate it!
I'm also working on plans for Paint Love Sessions IN MY STUDIO or in ZOOM in the next few weeks!
